Gn the end of this drastic evening, when the members of Hertha BSC were not only humiliated 5: 2 by FC Schalke 04, but also by insults from their own fans, sports director Benjamin Weber found a few words that expressed his entire need for expressed. “What are we longing for?” he asked almost desperately, in order to provide the answer right away: “For continuity and stability at the point with all the unrest that we have.”
By “the position” he meant the coaching position that Sandro Schwarz was still in on Saturday morning, but whom Weber described as “the poorest sow”. The coach had been let down by his team and by disastrous defensive behavior from his players; the Berliners had invited by far the weakest attack in the league to five goals. But maybe Weber’s sympathy for Schwarz was also based on the suspicion that it could now be over with the continuity and stability on the Berlin coaching bench.
Immediately after the final whistle, the head of sport “didn’t want to open a personnel discussion”, but that’s exactly what he did when he said: “I won’t announce anything here, but we will discuss it”. This game is a “slap in the face”. For a week, the Berliners had talked about the fact that such a relegation showdown between the bottom of the table and the penultimate one had to be contested first and foremost with passion, energy and dedication, but when the game went on, the Berliners defended like a couple of hobby footballers on Sundays in the park.
“We weren’t there at all in the duels,” said Marco Richter. Nobody had an explanation for the spectacular listlessness in the game against the ball. This is one of the reasons why the thought that a new impetus could be necessary to save the team is more present than ever this season.
Dardai? Labbadia? Hütter? Gisdol?
The Berliners have a weekend ahead of them where a lot could happen, especially since the question is who is an alternative. It’s hard to imagine Felix Magath, who saved the club last year, coming back. So is another “firefighter” wanted? Or should a head coach be found for the medium-term future who is also suitable as an immediate helper? The circle of candidates is not particularly attractive: Dardai? Labbadia? Hütter? Gisdol? breadth rider? Or do they stick to black at the end of their considerations?
However, it is obvious that this Berlin team cannot cope with the pressure situation, while Schalke lost in Hoffenheim last weekend, but were able to win direct duels against Stuttgart, in Bochum and now against Berlin against the competition from the bottom of the table. The squad seems relatively stable and coach Reis has a good sense of which skills could be particularly useful in which games. That was a key to winning against Berlin.
There are certainly better footballers in the squad, but for this duel, in which Schalke were under a kind of pressure to win because of the game plan with four away and only two home games, the coach explicitly relied on the heroes of the past season. With Kaminski, Latza, Bülter, Terodde and Drexler, there were five players in the starting line-up who had been promoted a year ago at the end of the second division season under similar pressure from successes in very tight games. “The idea was to bring a lot of experience to the pitch,” said Reis.
Devotion demands its sacrifices
Terodde scored his first goal since last November, Bülter even scored twice and Tim Skarke, who was injured during long periods of the season, made it 1-0 early (3rd) before setting up Bülter’s 2-0 (14th). “It’s really important that we have a broad squad and don’t give up a millimeter when it comes to mentality,” said sporting director Peter Knäbel. However, total devotion in a permanent extreme situation also demands its victims.
The pressure was one of the reasons for the many injuries, Knäbel suspected, after Maya Yoshida was unable to play due to a muscle injury and goalkeepers Fährmann, Skarke and Brunner had to be replaced injured. But somehow Reis usually finds suitable solutions to the problems in this second half of the season. Schalke have been playing this simple but very pragmatic football for weeks, with which coach Reis kept VfL Bochum in the league last season. With what kind of football the Berliners want to stay in the class is, however, quite unclear.
